It's a very different film compared to Schindlers List - the latter being a genuinely 'cinematic experience' - the reason some objected to it , feeling genocide being unsuitable as entertainment ..
I was going to say the same thing. I really like that version because it has the attendees acting downright jovial, lots of laughing and backslapping, while they discuss the final solution.
I have just watched it on another's recommendation. Interesting how closely the acting choices in the 2001 version follow its lead - feels more like a remake of the German version than an alternate retelling based on the original transcript.
I have watched this movie several times, and each time i find something even more chilling about it, from the way they start the movie showing the staff getting the house cleaned and ready for visitors like you would do for a dinner party, even down to preparing flowers, and the way that those attending are not shown as raving madmen, but as normal business men having a meeting and trying to come up with a solution for a problem by going over facts, statistics, discussing options and finally all agreeing to move forward. Having sat in multiple meetings during a recent ten million dollar remodeling project at work, I found myself even more shocked and chilled to the bone at how much their meeting to kill hundreds of millions of people resembled ours to discuss building plans, timetables, and options to various issues that arose. and Branagh's portrayal of Reinhard Heydrich was incredible, he could be pleasant, polite, and friendly to you while casting a dark scary shadow of death over you at the same time. I highly recommend this movie.
Even worse, the idea of "extermination" was a practical one (!!), basically issued by Heydrich together with Himmler, because the war with the Sovjet Union and later Britain (or the other way around) did not go as planned. The term used in German was "Evacuation", not well translated in this movie and, following the German bureaucratic tradition of keeping the original terminology in even if the meaning changes, the systematic industrialised murder of Jews in Birkenau (I think the "target-capacity" was mentioned in the movie as 1.2 million per month - I still have the chills each time I think of that), was meant literally as giving the Jews land to settle, far away from the new German (GrossDeutschland) State, on Madagaskar (no joke). In this regard it is actually sad that the official state doctrin of Germany up to today is the same like the first step of "Evacuation" of the "Jewish People" was: give them one land to settle on, which shall be far away from Germany. It was basically called "self-evacuation" or peaceful resettlement. Another taboo was recently broken when Germany declared that it will be possible for a German citizen to loose his or her citizenship. I think it was that Mueller from the Staatskanzlei or Dr. Stuckard who was the one responsible for denying German citizens their citizenship so that they can systematically be stripped of their rights (e.g. mass-sterilization). As the question of who shall be the target of this intra-species crime is rather arbitrary (Jews, Muslims, Catholics, Africans, Chinese, Slavs, "Gypsies", XYZ), my fear is that it could all be starting again in one way or the other.
This film brilliantly (and disturbingly) illustrates what author Hannah Arendt later called “ The Banality of Evil”. The answer to the Jewish question being inexorably pushed toward genocide not by those who outwardly appear to be murderous beasts but instead by stone hearted bureaucrats. Branagh’s chilling portrayal of Reinhard Heydrich shows himself to be a truly monumental embodiment of evil. However to see the rooms depraved apparatchik’s fall in line and administratively go in the direction Heydrich wants, with minimal resistance, is what truly shows the Banality of Evil. How these soft unremarkable men, who will never have to get their hands dirty, can casually discuss and green light human exterminations with such detachment is where the film hits hardest. If memory serves, the only member of that meeting who got nauseous was the only man who actually had taken part in previous liquidations.
Yes I agree, but I want to add this: those who watch have a responsibility. These are people who 'half-know' what is happening. This is a very important category of people. German army records show that the 'ordinary' soldier couldn't continuously kill civilians (in Russia), so 'specialists' were used instead. Everything about evil episodes in history tells us that the moral education of children is absolutely essential. Morality is common to Islam, Judaism and Christianity: you don't harm the innocent. (Of course 'innocent' may be hard to identify but we must try....).
One of the most overlooked and underrated movies ever. The acting is stunning, it's shot beautifully and the message that is put across should make anyone pause for thought
Great but utterly chilling video Johnny... The planning of transport and the logistics for the 'Process' of the Holocaust is more than scary... It's beyond comprehension...
It’s even more scary when you discover that the trains heading to Auschwitz with their human cargo were given a higher priority than the trains carrying military supplies to the front or the wounded back to the rear.
This movie is absolutely amazing. NEVER have I seen, been in, or prepared for, a "business meeting" more compelling than this one. Not just due to the amazing acting by everyone involved, or the "inter political dynamics"... but due to the way that such a horrible plan of action was treated with sheer indifference and efficiency of reaching a goal. And impossible to ignore the way that the entire meeting is being 'strong armed" by ONE man to get everyone to "fall in line".
Watched this in one of my WW2 classes in college. Extremely Chilling and disturbing but that dude who played Dracos dad (can't remember the actors name) did an incredible job. As you said, the dialog is shocking, to the most horrifying thing is how casually and even jokingly the officials treated the matter. That fat dude kept making jokes nearly the entire movie.
As mentioned by others, the actor you're referring to is actually Kenneth Branagh who played "Professor" Gilderoy Lockhart in the Harry Potter movies. Jason Isaacs played Lucius Malfoy.
It’s a chilling film and brilliantly acted. It also appears to closely resemble the German tv movie ‘Die Wannseekonferenz’ (1984), which is also on UA-cam.
I think the German film is better, largely because the actors are unknown and they're public personas don't interfere with the roles they're playing. Very chilling film.
@@MisterApol Absolutely agree. The German film feels much more authentic. And the actors playing Heydrich and Eichmann are much closer physically to their subjects.
I agree. This is one of my favorite movies. It is shocking to see people sitting around a table in a bureaucratic meeting similar to many that I have sat it. It feels very much the same, right down to the refreshments. But instead of discussing customer satisfaction, or improving delivery times, they are discussing the brutal mass murder of millions. CREEPY!
"Evil is unspectacular and always human, and shares our bed and eats at our own table" W H Auden This film is brilliant in its mundaneness, it's a film about board meeting. The ease at which they discuss the Jewish problem, take away the uniforms and it could be businessmen discussing quarterly figures, it is a chillingly brilliant but overlooked film but given the subject matter a really hard watch.
Just watched on your recommendation and what a horrifying experience. The film has several arguments but it's between extermination, sterilisation and forced labor. Much like Downfall it has the fates of all those involved that will just make you feel sick. Very good in getting its message across and making you feel how it wants you to feel without outstaying its welcome.
Hey Johnny I don't have time to watch both atm but I really appreciate you putting up two videos in a day. And I also like seeing films be praised for other elements besides just action. While many of the finest war films are of course heavy on the action, some of my favourites or favourite scenes in otherwise action films, are the dialogue scenes. If the actors and the script are done well, I think acting and dialogue can be just as riveting as a big action setpiece
Keep it in mind to watch in the future. Very powerful film. Also a big thank you for supporting both my posts today. Goes along way to keep me motivated. 👍
This is still the most terrifying and chilling film I've ever seen and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in history. The performances are absolutely spot on, especially Kenneth Branagh's unnerving Obergruppenfuhrer Heydrich, and the attention to historical detail is incredible.
I first saw this movie back in 2021, I believe, 20 years after it was released, and it is an excellent movie to watch. The performances of all the characters definitely make up for the lack of action normally found in a WWII film. I originally believed that the Wannsee Conference was where everyone in the German government decided to murder all the Jews in the Holocaust, but in reality, the mass killings were already underway; it was merely an excuse to get everyone who wasn't on the page of the main organizers of the Holocaust in line.
Thanks for this review. Will have to watch this version then as well. There are two German productions about the Wannsee conference: One from I believe 1982, which also has superb acting, and one from 2022, which unfortunately overplays the "cool bureaucrat" by essentially haveing the actors play almost entirely without showing any emotion at all. So, definitely the older version is what I'll compare Conspiracy, too. It will be an interesting experience to see how differently some points come across merely through different languages. This plays a larger role here than it does in most other adaptions as screenplays on the Wannsee conference have to be almost entirely based on dialogue.
Reinhart Heydrich died after his car was blown up by two Czech assassins in Prague. He initially survived the blast but later died of blood poisoning after his doctor chose not to treat him with antibiotics.
I wonder it it was deliberate? Heydrich had a lot of fat juicy files on his potential enemies as "insurance" that he could use against them. Which made him a hated but feared man amongst his circle(s) of sycophants. To deliberately choose not to give him any effective treatment, could have been seen as a way of actually getting rid of him. In any case, the end result was the liquidation of two villages and the deaths of those actually involved and the end of any form of effective Czech resistance against the regime. At the same time though, the NSDAP lost one of their brutal but most efficient henchmen.
@@commandingjudgedredd1841 A typical resistance action then. The results of the mission didn't change anything but hundreds of civilians died for nothing as a consequence.
If you want to see a full accounting of that event, watch “Anthropoid.” A very well done and fairly accurate account of the mission, its execution, and the subsequent reprisal that resulted in the complete eradication of the town of Lidice.
On the DVD release in Europe, it says there is a dorector's commentary track, but sadly there is none on the disc. Does anyone know where this commentary might be found?
Well done on the intelligent commentary. I've been a fan of this movie for quite some years and it certainly offers a unique perspective on the war, reminding the viewer that no matter how barbaric the execution, there were bureaucrats coldly working behind the scenes behaving as if they were engaged in something cultured and civilized.
This is a stunning movie. One of the most disturbing is how the meeting is manipulated to achieve a consensus goal. I imagine this goes on every day behind closed doors, producing terrible government policies and commercial disasters when a few bad actors are driven by an ideology.
I've visited the 'Villa by the lake' where the conference was held, and where some of the filming actually took place.... Definitely worth going. A truly excellent and underrated film.
I also like how this film shows how messy the Nazi gov really was and how it took a cold ruthless sob like Heydrich to bully all the parts to work together rather than compete and undermine like they usually did.
2:46 Tom Hiddleston in one of his earliest roles for film! Also, is it possible for you to do a review on _The Last Emperor_ (1987), perhaps on Chinese New Year?
this movie was stunning and I've watched it many times. through the actors and dialogue, you can almost comprehend the sheer evil they were portraying.
This movie was one of two reasons I really pushed hard to visit Germany, the other being Neuschwanstein. I visited that house and today its actually a Jewish research center for documenting the Holocaust, but even then that place has certain aura about it. Its both relaxingly tranquil, being on the shores of scenic Lake Wansee, and eeriely menacing at the same time since you feel the weight of what transpired there. Fun Fact: Tom Hiddleston is in this movie for all of three seconds as "Phone Operator". Proof than even Evil Gods had to start at the ground floor.
There are 2 other movies about this, made in Germany. The first from 1984, which you can find here on youtube with english subs. The second one is from 2022 and filmed at the actual location of the villa at Wannsee Lake, outside of Berlin. The 80's movie has a more "casual" tone. You see the Nazis cracking jokes, flirting with the secretaries etc. while they planing a genocide. The second one looks more like a bureaucratic business meeting. Very cold, the Nazis arguing about the "logistics". Both are well acted and very chilling.
@@danielleetaylor Both are titled "Die Wannseekonferenz". First is from 1984, it's here on UA-cam with english subs. The second is from 2022, not sure if there's an english version, it was produced for German public broadcasting service, ZDF.
This meeting was a key plot point in the novel, later made into a film, Fatherland, which was of the alternate history genre. Ruther Hauer and Miranda Richardson star in it, and it too was an HBO financed production.
There was a Star Wars fan film by the same name, centered around a group of imperial officers discussing plan for galactic domination and the idea of a mobile battle station is brought up. I still remember the exchange: "It would hang in the sky like any star, but instead of life it'd bring death!" "Hmm, a 'death star', I'll have to remember that."
“There is no more dangerous menace to civilization than a government of incompetent, corrupt, or vile men” “The worst evils which mankind ever had to endure were inflicted by bad governments.” Ludwig von Mises, Economist
The way this meeting went could be like any business meeting of a group of managers. The chilling dimension however is the caless manner in which industrial mass murder is communicated as if it's just a point on the agenda.
I've seen it a couple of times. A profoundly disturbing film to say the least. Branagh, Tucci and Firth are the most known of the actors in the film but the entire cast was excellent in their roles. Barnaby Kay, the actor that portrayed Rudolf Lange in the film was particularly sinister in how he so casually talked about eliminating all the Jews of Latvia. He spoke of it like the killing of an ant nest. I also was impressed with how the group dynamic overpowered anyone that had any kind of remote moral apprehension over the idea of murdering what would be 10 million human beings over Europe. Each of the opponents had their reasons for opposing the concept but all pretty quickly fell into line based on the intimidation and overall power control of Reinhard Heydrich. People wonder how educated and intelligent people can fall in line with mass murder. I recommend watching this film And if anyone thinks it cannot happen here, well, something like this can.
"The greatest evil is not done in those sordid dens of evil that Dickens loved to paint ... but is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minute) in clear, carpeted, warmed, well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices." - C. S. Lewis
Great review, and you got a new subscriber :) But I would like to recommend the original film from 1984 called "Wannseekonferenz" As a German speaker and lifetime student of history: The original Movie seems more realistic, authentic and historically correct than the 2001 Version which seems more dramatic, Hollywood style.
Anyone know if this film is streaming in the US? If not, Max should have it, as it has several HBO films. Chilling to see 15 businessmen at a luncheon going over something like this.
The only criticism I have for this movie was it showed Reinhart drinking and smoking, which were things he prided himself on not doing. However, it does show his cold ruthless nature, the sort of aspects one might expect from a bureaucrat who is intent on murdering millions of people. I also like the scene where one of them asks how many lawyers are in the group, a number of them raise their hands, and the character remarks "It's worst than I thought." What that scene shows is that people involved were educated and not mindless thugs, yet they were the ones who organized one of the worst acts of genocide in the history of the world.
I am a big fan of Branagh and he is very good in this film. It is a good remake. But if you are speaking German I recommand watching both German versions form 1984 and from 2021.
I wonder if anyone outside the UK gets the full power of this production, even apart from the writing and staging. It's an amazing piece of tv because the actors are all familiar in avuncular or likeable roles. It's like 90 minutes of watching Donald Duck cleaning blood off an axe.
thank you very much for posting this. This is very important information to share during this disturbing time. Very soon that people forget the banality of evil.
this film was scarily accurate and really show how calculated the nazis actually were. it was a chilling movie because it showed the bureaucrats calmly setting in motion the genocide of an a entire group of people.
The first time I saw this production I had no high expectations. HBO movie, maybe nice. No more, no less. But the coldness of numbers, people without names and faces to be deported gives it a feel of people becoming insects. These incredible actors make the movie even more terrifying. I don't know how it would feel if the movie would be in german language. It doesn't matter. Probably the best movie about the final solution. Evil has a face, a human face.
It is utterly fascinating. You keep thinking something's gotta change, these guys can't be serious ... buy yes they can. Did you like Apollo 13? Everyone knew what was happening, almost everything took place in one small capsule and one ground control room, yet it riveted me from start to finish. A friend took her small kids (4? 6?) to it by mistake, and even though she told them the ending and everything would be all right, they were absolutely fascinated. Any three hour movie which can do that is superb. This movie had that same fixation for me, except of course wanting it to be a lie :)
I watched it long ago,maybe when it came out, and it was the lack of "action" which made it so creepy and sickening. I don't know how close it was to the transcript, not how close that was to reality, but it's easily one of the scariest, most nauseating movies I have ever watched. On some level, what I find "oddest" about the Holocaust is how inefficient it was. The idea that a proper wartime strategy is to use hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of your workers to murder millions of other workers, just boggles my mind. I could at least understand why a racial purist ideology would want to kick the "impure" out of the country in peacetime, but during a war? It just makes no sense. So much for the vaunted German efficiency! And then to repeat that in the conquered lands like Ukraine, where the civilians were treating you as saviors from the Russians and Communists, is a further bizarre anti-efficiency program I cannot understand. Any regime which could turn all those willing hands back to their Communist Russian oppressors is a bizarre regime indeed. This movie doesn't really answer the question, but it does make it seem more real, that yes, ideological fanatics could indeed be so unhinged that they would rather reduce their chances of winning than let the "impure" help them win.
Ulsterman Kenneth Branagh...whenever he acts brings gravitas...chillingly so here...the banality of evil...quite a contrast to Dunkirk or his portrayal of fellow Irishman Tim Collins ,kn the eve of the Iraq war..or doing Shakespeare...excellent choice, Johnny best wishes from the wirral peninsula..E
This film emphasis the quote from Stalin in which a single death is a tragedy but a million deaths is a statistic. He wasn't saying a million deaths isn't a tragedy, but for someone in a position of power, it's nothing more than a statistic because to someone in a position of power, they're not the ones getting their hands dirty. It's the men ordered to commit the crimes who end up holding the burden, the nightmares, emotional distress of having to commit said crimes. Meanwhile someone in a fancy villa may enjoy coffee and cake when discussing it. It's easy to answer why most of those who had to get their hands dirty even if they believed it was a necessary evil, still became drug addicts and alcoholics, sometimes having to drink heavily just to drawn out the screams and crying, pump themselves up into a rage. After a while it gets easier. When reading letters from some of those who escaped justice, they spend much of their time rationalizing and justifying their behavior which is a coping measure, they know what they did was wrong, but admitting what they did was wrong would be admitting they're a monster so they lie even to themselves. This is actually why in particular cases like this, I think it's more important making those who committed the crimes realize what they did is wrong, than hanging them by a rope. Give them a chance to come out and admit everything. Make penance, otherwise you'd have to hunt them down, possibly even raise children to believe what they did was right, or as you see today, many Nazis view themselves as the victims and flat out deny the crimes were real. If those who committed those crimes through their own words came out and admitted them, willingly, and not with risk of being hung/shot, there would be very little room for denialism. Who knows we could of also learned more about what happened rather than them taking with them to the grave the truth of their own actions.
I'm glad people are paying more attention to this brilliant film, it's such a disturbing and well-made look at the nature of evil. To me, Conspiracy, Schindler's List, and Downfall work well as an unofficial trilogy about the Holocaust.
I have watched this film on a number of occasions and the equivalence of current governmental mindsets, especially during the Covid period, is chilling. Decisions made, with casual disregard for those callously affected. 'We were only following logistics'...
This is exactly what it's like inside a USA presidential campaign. The nominee gets the nomination and top leaders are all called into a meeting (where he is not present) to hear the plan. Objections arise. Some have been planning the path ahead in careful detail with many considerations. The plan as presented will disrupt all that. Others complain differently. They have received the personal assurance from the man himself. But all calls are held, unless the nominee calls, and he won't. Eventually all resistance melts away and the group emerges with a unified plan for victory in the fall.
Branagh looked nothing like Heydrich. And then that British language, it didn't sound like anything! That Fat NSDAP officer who ate everything in this film was actually a skinny man. No, for me this movie really missed the mark.
Conspiracy was well done, with excellent actors playing key roles, but for realism I preferred the 1984 docudrama “Hitler's Final Solution: The Wannsee Conference”. It is in German, so it adds a little more authenticity. It also uses relatively unknowns in the cast so it’s much easier to suspend disbelief and it feels more like a fly on the wall documentary rather than a recreation film of events.
I imagine this is how it goes in alot of despotic ruled places during history. Stalin didn't kill, maim or torture tens of millions of his own people with his own 2 hands. He delegated. Reading the book Stalin Hangmen, if you weren't disposing of the targeted people fast enough(if your "numbers" weren't high enough at cost) then you joined them. Also if you had been getting rid of people for awhile(lots of enemies within the bureaucracy as everyone knows everyone) Stalin eventually had your rival get rid of you as he didn't want anyone in power for to long.(other than him) I am sure Genghis Khan and his brothers and Generals sat in a yurt and discussed the fate of many a city that fell under the sword. People have been acting like monsters since the start of time.
Not gonna lie, when the one guy introduces himself and says im in charge of the 5 year plan, the other guy goes well im in charge of the thousand year plan then goes to ignoring the first guy. Cracked me up.
Actually the decision was already taken. The wannsee conference purpose was to inform the major departments and ministeries so that they couldn't say later that they knew nothing
A truly underrated and terrifying film. For me it's better than Schindlers List. It's a horror film disguised as a business meeting.
That is a really apt description, the banality of evil perfectly presented.
I got more of a sense of horrifying over horror, but otherwise I’m in line with you.
It's a very different film compared to Schindlers List - the latter being a genuinely 'cinematic experience' - the reason some objected to it , feeling genocide being unsuitable as entertainment ..
It should be watching in conjunction with Schindler's List
Awesome description
I'd also highly recommend 'Die Wannsee Conference', an 80's German tv film that is (at least currently) available here on UA-cam.
I was going to say the same thing. I really like that version because it has the attendees acting downright jovial, lots of laughing and backslapping, while they discuss the final solution.
That one is also very good. I havent seen the newest one they just released.
Definitely worth a watch, it will definitely be removed at some point. Also I urge you to watch Come and See 🙏
I have just watched it on another's recommendation. Interesting how closely the acting choices in the 2001 version follow its lead - feels more like a remake of the German version than an alternate retelling based on the original transcript.
That's the best one and my favourite.
I have watched this movie several times, and each time i find something even more chilling about it, from the way they start the movie showing the staff getting the house cleaned and ready for visitors like you would do for a dinner party, even down to preparing flowers, and the way that those attending are not shown as raving madmen, but as normal business men having a meeting and trying to come up with a solution for a problem by going over facts, statistics, discussing options and finally all agreeing to move forward. Having sat in multiple meetings during a recent ten million dollar remodeling project at work, I found myself even more shocked and chilled to the bone at how much their meeting to kill hundreds of millions of people resembled ours to discuss building plans, timetables, and options to various issues that arose. and Branagh's portrayal of Reinhard Heydrich was incredible, he could be pleasant, polite, and friendly to you while casting a dark scary shadow of death over you at the same time. I highly recommend this movie.
Even worse, the idea of "extermination" was a practical one (!!), basically issued by Heydrich together with Himmler, because the war with the Sovjet Union and later Britain (or the other way around) did not go as planned. The term used in German was "Evacuation", not well translated in this movie and, following the German bureaucratic tradition of keeping the original terminology in even if the meaning changes, the systematic industrialised murder of Jews in Birkenau (I think the "target-capacity" was mentioned in the movie as 1.2 million per month - I still have the chills each time I think of that), was meant literally as giving the Jews land to settle, far away from the new German (GrossDeutschland) State, on Madagaskar (no joke).
In this regard it is actually sad that the official state doctrin of Germany up to today is the same like the first step of "Evacuation" of the "Jewish People" was: give them one land to settle on, which shall be far away from Germany. It was basically called "self-evacuation" or peaceful resettlement.
Another taboo was recently broken when Germany declared that it will be possible for a German citizen to loose his or her citizenship. I think it was that Mueller from the Staatskanzlei or Dr. Stuckard who was the one responsible for denying German citizens their citizenship so that they can systematically be stripped of their rights (e.g. mass-sterilization). As the question of who shall be the target of this intra-species crime is rather arbitrary (Jews, Muslims, Catholics, Africans, Chinese, Slavs, "Gypsies", XYZ), my fear is that it could all be starting again in one way or the other.
@@CatOfSchroedinger Have a look at moving the Jews to Madagaskar as it came from as it was not an original German Idea !
This film brilliantly (and disturbingly) illustrates what author Hannah Arendt later called “ The Banality of Evil”. The answer to the Jewish question being inexorably pushed toward genocide not by those who outwardly appear to be murderous beasts but instead by stone hearted bureaucrats. Branagh’s chilling portrayal of Reinhard Heydrich shows himself to be a truly monumental embodiment of evil. However to see the rooms depraved apparatchik’s fall in line and administratively go in the direction Heydrich wants, with minimal resistance, is what truly shows the Banality of Evil. How these soft unremarkable men, who will never have to get their hands dirty, can casually discuss and green light human exterminations with such detachment is where the film hits hardest. If memory serves, the only member of that meeting who got nauseous was the only man who actually had taken part in previous liquidations.
you did experience the covid vaccinations and lockdowns yesteryear? how you think THAT was all decided ?
Yes I agree, but I want to add this: those who watch have a responsibility. These are people who 'half-know' what is happening. This is a very important category of people. German army records show that the 'ordinary' soldier couldn't continuously kill civilians (in Russia), so 'specialists' were used instead. Everything about evil episodes in history tells us that the moral education of children is absolutely essential. Morality is common to Islam, Judaism and Christianity: you don't harm the innocent. (Of course 'innocent' may be hard to identify but we must try....).
Absolutely, absolutely.
@@oddballsok Comparing efforts to save lives to the holocaust... you're a sick individual.
wow@@oddballsok
One of the most overlooked and underrated movies ever. The acting is stunning, it's shot beautifully and the message that is put across should make anyone pause for thought
Great but utterly chilling video Johnny... The planning of transport and the logistics for the 'Process' of the Holocaust is more than scary... It's beyond comprehension...
It’s even more scary when you discover that the trains heading to Auschwitz with their human cargo were given a higher priority than the trains carrying military supplies to the front or the wounded back to the rear.
This movie is absolutely amazing. NEVER have I seen, been in, or prepared for, a "business meeting" more compelling than this one. Not just due to the amazing acting by everyone involved, or the "inter political dynamics"... but due to the way that such a horrible plan of action was treated with sheer indifference and efficiency of reaching a goal. And impossible to ignore the way that the entire meeting is being 'strong armed" by ONE man to get everyone to "fall in line".
Watched this in one of my WW2 classes in college. Extremely Chilling and disturbing but that dude who played Dracos dad (can't remember the actors name) did an incredible job. As you said, the dialog is shocking, to the most horrifying thing is how casually and even jokingly the officials treated the matter. That fat dude kept making jokes nearly the entire movie.
Jason Isaacs
: )
If you want to see just how adept an actor Jason Isaacs is, watch Death of Stalin, where he plays a wisecracking, irreverent Georgy Zhukov.
@@TheSaltydog07 Think he means Kenneth Branagh. But he looks like dracos dad in this movie. kinda
As mentioned by others, the actor you're referring to is actually Kenneth Branagh who played "Professor" Gilderoy Lockhart in the Harry Potter movies. Jason Isaacs played Lucius Malfoy.
So you watched a fictional concept piece as part of history class...
Says a lot...
It’s a chilling film and brilliantly acted. It also appears to closely resemble the German tv movie ‘Die Wannseekonferenz’ (1984), which is also on UA-cam.
i saw the film in history class. the movie is really important to see the evil in the holocaust.
I think the German film is better, largely because the actors are unknown and they're public personas don't interfere with the roles they're playing. Very chilling film.
@@MisterApol Absolutely agree. The German film feels much more authentic. And the actors playing Heydrich and Eichmann are much closer physically to their subjects.
I agree. This is one of my favorite movies. It is shocking to see people sitting around a table in a bureaucratic meeting similar to many that I have sat it. It feels very much the same, right down to the refreshments. But instead of discussing customer satisfaction, or improving delivery times, they are discussing the brutal mass murder of millions. CREEPY!
It's like the Glengarry Glen Ross of War movies, A true show case of acting.
"Evil is unspectacular and always human, and shares our bed and eats at our own table" W H Auden
This film is brilliant in its mundaneness, it's a film about board meeting. The ease at which they discuss the Jewish problem, take away the uniforms and it could be businessmen discussing quarterly figures, it is a chillingly brilliant but overlooked film but given the subject matter a really hard watch.
Agreed. Where did Auden say that? He had a lot of hard truths. (Information not challenge! I'm a lit grad.)
@@davidhardiman9603 it's a line in the poem "Herman Melville" by Auden.
I watched this movie in my 9th grade history class. No movie has ever chilled me more to the bone, nor engendered such anger as it did.
Just the amount of dialog Branaugh had to memorize should have got him the oscar.
Just watched on your recommendation and what a horrifying experience. The film has several arguments but it's between extermination, sterilisation and forced labor. Much like Downfall it has the fates of all those involved that will just make you feel sick. Very good in getting its message across and making you feel how it wants you to feel without outstaying its welcome.
@karlbarx1819 Which streaming services can one watching it on?
Hey Johnny I don't have time to watch both atm but I really appreciate you putting up two videos in a day. And I also like seeing films be praised for other elements besides just action. While many of the finest war films are of course heavy on the action, some of my favourites or favourite scenes in otherwise action films, are the dialogue scenes. If the actors and the script are done well, I think acting and dialogue can be just as riveting as a big action setpiece
Keep it in mind to watch in the future. Very powerful film. Also a big thank you for supporting both my posts today. Goes along way to keep me motivated. 👍
@@JohnnyJohnsonHistory will open tab on it now and look for it
This is still the most terrifying and chilling film I've ever seen and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in history. The performances are absolutely spot on, especially Kenneth Branagh's unnerving Obergruppenfuhrer Heydrich, and the attention to historical detail is incredible.
I think this is one of the best examples of EVIL ever filmed.
................................it's fiction 🤦🏻♂️
@@greg_4201 It's based on the transcripts of the meeting. Is it word for word, no.
Is it in the ballpark? I think the results speak for themselves.
@@frednone what meeting??????????? 🤦🏻♂️🤡 no. It's obviously entirely made up
what results? 🤦🏻♂️
@@greg_4201 Its not fiction, its a fictional work about an actuall event, so what is depictet as a whole is not fiction, only in the details.
@@Tarnatos14 what actual event?
The line at end of the meeting when Branagh character simply announces “ we have accomplished something “ is truly chilling.
I first saw this movie back in 2021, I believe, 20 years after it was released, and it is an excellent movie to watch. The performances of all the characters definitely make up for the lack of action normally found in a WWII film. I originally believed that the Wannsee Conference was where everyone in the German government decided to murder all the Jews in the Holocaust, but in reality, the mass killings were already underway; it was merely an excuse to get everyone who wasn't on the page of the main organizers of the Holocaust in line.
Thanks for this review. Will have to watch this version then as well.
There are two German productions about the Wannsee conference: One from I believe 1982, which also has superb acting, and one from 2022, which unfortunately overplays the "cool bureaucrat" by essentially haveing the actors play almost entirely without showing any emotion at all.
So, definitely the older version is what I'll compare Conspiracy, too.
It will be an interesting experience to see how differently some points come across merely through different languages. This plays a larger role here than it does in most other adaptions as screenplays on the Wannsee conference have to be almost entirely based on dialogue.
I have always thought that not only is it a well executed film it is one if the most important stories of WWII with valuable lessons .
Lot of great actors and good portion of the cast was in Valkyrie. I saw Valkyrie first then noticed this at a local library and rented it.
Every portrayal of WW2 atrocities piss me off, mostly because I know some of them got away scot free
My better half has a hard time watching films like this for the same reason.
Yes, the many thousands of allied atrocities against German soldiers and civilians were never punished. It angers me too to think about it.
Reinhart Heydrich died after his car was blown up by two Czech assassins in Prague. He initially survived the blast but later died of blood poisoning after his doctor chose not to treat him with antibiotics.
Then the Nazis responded by destroying Lidice.
I wonder it it was deliberate? Heydrich had a lot of fat juicy files on his potential enemies as "insurance" that he could use against them. Which made him a hated but feared man amongst his circle(s) of sycophants. To deliberately choose not to give him any effective treatment, could have been seen as a way of actually getting rid of him. In any case, the end result was the liquidation of two villages and the deaths of those actually involved and the end of any form of effective Czech resistance against the regime. At the same time though, the NSDAP lost one of their brutal but most efficient henchmen.
@@commandingjudgedredd1841 A typical resistance action then. The results of the mission didn't change anything but hundreds of civilians died for nothing as a consequence.
If you want to see a full accounting of that event, watch “Anthropoid.” A very well done and fairly accurate account of the mission, its execution, and the subsequent reprisal that resulted in the complete eradication of the town of Lidice.
I prefer to watch Conspiracy when it is snowing and freezing outside.
Kind of ironic that half the cast would later be in a film of killing Hitler.
I remember watching this years ago it was amazing the acting the script all came together perfectly. A chilling piece of work.
On the DVD release in Europe, it says there is a dorector's commentary track, but sadly there is none on the disc. Does anyone know where this commentary might be found?
This is the scariest movie I have ever seen. Genuinely.
Definitely an excellent dramatic telling of most mundane planning of vile evil. Put this one on the must-see list!
Thanks, and I agree with all you say. There is also "The Wannsee Conference", a German production, which is equally well-done, and equally disturbing.
Well done on the intelligent commentary. I've been a fan of this movie for quite some years and it certainly offers a unique perspective on the war, reminding the viewer that no matter how barbaric the execution, there were bureaucrats coldly working behind the scenes behaving as if they were engaged in something cultured and civilized.
This is a stunning movie. One of the most disturbing is how the meeting is manipulated to achieve a consensus goal. I imagine this goes on every day behind closed doors, producing terrible government policies and commercial disasters when a few bad actors are driven by an ideology.
I've visited the 'Villa by the lake' where the conference was held, and where some of the filming actually took place.... Definitely worth going.
A truly excellent and underrated film.
I also like how this film shows how messy the Nazi gov really was and how it took a cold ruthless sob like Heydrich to bully all the parts to work together rather than compete and undermine like they usually did.
2:46
Tom Hiddleston in one of his earliest roles for film!
Also, is it possible for you to do a review on _The Last Emperor_ (1987), perhaps on Chinese New Year?
Almost all the actors here are Shakespearean Theatre actors so they were used to reading and playing long scripts. Perfect for this kind of film.
this movie was stunning and I've watched it many times.
through the actors and dialogue, you can almost comprehend the sheer evil they were portraying.
This movie was one of two reasons I really pushed hard to visit Germany, the other being Neuschwanstein. I visited that house and today its actually a Jewish research center for documenting the Holocaust, but even then that place has certain aura about it. Its both relaxingly tranquil, being on the shores of scenic Lake Wansee, and eeriely menacing at the same time since you feel the weight of what transpired there.
Fun Fact: Tom Hiddleston is in this movie for all of three seconds as "Phone Operator". Proof than even Evil Gods had to start at the ground floor.
There are 2 other movies about this, made in Germany.
The first from 1984, which you can find here on youtube with english subs.
The second one is from 2022 and filmed at the actual location of the villa at Wannsee Lake, outside of Berlin.
The 80's movie has a more "casual" tone. You see the Nazis cracking jokes, flirting with the secretaries etc. while they planing a genocide.
The second one looks more like a bureaucratic business meeting. Very cold, the Nazis arguing about the "logistics".
Both are well acted and very chilling.
Hey, what are they called?
@@danielleetaylor Both are titled "Die Wannseekonferenz".
First is from 1984, it's here on UA-cam with english subs.
The second is from 2022, not sure if there's an english version, it was produced for German public broadcasting service, ZDF.
This meeting was a key plot point in the novel, later made into a film, Fatherland, which was of the alternate history genre. Ruther Hauer and Miranda Richardson star in it, and it too was an HBO financed production.
Thanks to the host, I'm now wondering what a Onesies Conference would look like.
I think that just one edition of the minutes of this meeting survived the war -- providing actual dialogue for parts of this screenplay.
There was a Star Wars fan film by the same name, centered around a group of imperial officers discussing plan for galactic domination and the idea of a mobile battle station is brought up. I still remember the exchange:
"It would hang in the sky like any star, but instead of life it'd bring death!"
"Hmm, a 'death star', I'll have to remember that."
Enough with the Star Wars nonsense! Even the original films were terrible. Grow up!
The film, excluding the intro and credit scenes is around 90 mins total. The exact duration of the original meeting.
“There is no more dangerous menace to civilization than a government of incompetent, corrupt, or vile men”
“The worst evils which mankind ever had to endure were inflicted by bad governments.”
Ludwig von Mises, Economist
Ludwig knew! He understood the malevolence that could be hidden behind bureaucratic routine.
This is a remake of an 80s German TV drama "Die Wannsee-Konferenz". Might be worth looking for; I've seen it being available on YT a while ago.
The German television drama is far superior, and far more chilling, as it does not have the over-acting present in Conspiracy.
Good call Johnny. Cheers
The way this meeting went could be like any business meeting of a group of managers.
The chilling dimension however is the caless manner in which industrial mass murder is communicated as if it's just a point on the agenda.
Own it on DVD, a superb film, with fantastic acting.
for anyone who speaks german there are two german versions of it which I highly recommend.
watched the 1984 one and it blew me away.
I've seen it a couple of times. A profoundly disturbing film to say the least. Branagh, Tucci and Firth are the most known of the actors in the film but the entire cast was excellent in their roles. Barnaby Kay, the actor that portrayed Rudolf Lange in the film was particularly sinister in how he so casually talked about eliminating all the Jews of Latvia. He spoke of it like the killing of an ant nest.
I also was impressed with how the group dynamic overpowered anyone that had any kind of remote moral apprehension over the idea of murdering what would be 10 million human beings over Europe. Each of the opponents had their reasons for opposing the concept but all pretty quickly fell into line based on the intimidation and overall power control of Reinhard Heydrich. People wonder how educated and intelligent people can fall in line with mass murder. I recommend watching this film
And if anyone thinks it cannot happen here, well, something like this can.
Yeah someone likes acting so much. LOL
Overall, this film was amazing in both acting and photography. Brannah and Tucci gave stellar performances.
"The greatest evil is not done in those sordid dens of evil that Dickens loved to paint ... but is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minute) in clear, carpeted, warmed, well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices."
- C. S. Lewis
Agreed. Tell me please where that is in CSL. I want to cite it.
@@davidhardiman9603 It's from the Screwtape letters by C.S. Lewis.
Great review, and you got a new subscriber :)
But I would like to recommend the original film from 1984 called "Wannseekonferenz" As a German speaker and lifetime student of history: The original Movie seems more realistic, authentic and historically correct than the 2001 Version which seems more dramatic, Hollywood style.
I will have to give it a review as well 🙏
Anyone know if this film is streaming in the US? If not, Max should have it, as it has several HBO films. Chilling to see 15 businessmen at a luncheon going over something like this.
The movie is a rather thin remake of "Die Wannseekonferenz" 1984.
yes...but nowhere never as good or accurate !!
@02:47...I had NO idea Loki was a Nazi...
The only criticism I have for this movie was it showed Reinhart drinking and smoking, which were things he prided himself on not doing. However, it does show his cold ruthless nature, the sort of aspects one might expect from a bureaucrat who is intent on murdering millions of people. I also like the scene where one of them asks how many lawyers are in the group, a number of them raise their hands, and the character remarks "It's worst than I thought." What that scene shows is that people involved were educated and not mindless thugs, yet they were the ones who organized one of the worst acts of genocide in the history of the world.
Reinhard Heydrich was both a smoker and a drinker. He had a pipe collection.
Hitler called him, th man with the iron heart. If he gives you that name, you're a real piece of work.
I am a big fan of Branagh and he is very good in this film. It is a good remake.
But if you are speaking German I recommand watching both German versions form 1984 and from 2021.
Conspiracy is an important entry in my unofficial cycle of Holocaust films. Good review.
I wonder if anyone outside the UK gets the full power of this production, even apart from the writing and staging. It's an amazing piece of tv because the actors are all familiar in avuncular or likeable roles.
It's like 90 minutes of watching Donald Duck cleaning blood off an axe.
thank you very much for posting this. This is very important information to share during this disturbing time. Very soon that people forget the banality of evil.
this film was scarily accurate and really show how calculated the nazis actually were. it was a chilling movie because it showed the bureaucrats calmly setting in motion the genocide of an a entire group of people.
Thank you for a presentation done in one take. A little monotonous in tone, but the subject is not one that lends itself to dramatic voice.
I actually remember watching this when it first came out, you are right, it really is a great film.
This movie should be part of the curriculum of every senior history lesson in high school 😮
There are SO many great actors in this film and they do such a great job. I'm sure it was difficult to say some of these lines.
There is also a german movie with the title „Die Wannseekonferenz“
The first time I saw this production I had no high expectations. HBO movie, maybe nice. No more, no less. But the coldness of numbers, people without names and faces to be deported gives it a feel of people becoming insects. These incredible actors make the movie even more terrifying. I don't know how it would feel if the movie would be in german language. It doesn't matter. Probably the best movie about the final solution. Evil has a face, a human face.
I absolutely love this film, one of my favourite films, but absolutely terrifying.
ive watched that movie like 100 times.. always something new in it each time that missed before.
At the 1:06:15 mark, you’ll notice Eichmann lights his cigarette twice in quick succession….a filming blooper!
I’ll have to watch that. I’ve heard that despite its grim plot line, it’s an interesting watch.
It is utterly fascinating. You keep thinking something's gotta change, these guys can't be serious ... buy yes they can.
Did you like Apollo 13? Everyone knew what was happening, almost everything took place in one small capsule and one ground control room, yet it riveted me from start to finish. A friend took her small kids (4? 6?) to it by mistake, and even though she told them the ending and everything would be all right, they were absolutely fascinated. Any three hour movie which can do that is superb.
This movie had that same fixation for me, except of course wanting it to be a lie :)
Whoa, I was not ready to see the man behind the voice today
🥸
I watched it long ago,maybe when it came out, and it was the lack of "action" which made it so creepy and sickening. I don't know how close it was to the transcript, not how close that was to reality, but it's easily one of the scariest, most nauseating movies I have ever watched.
On some level, what I find "oddest" about the Holocaust is how inefficient it was. The idea that a proper wartime strategy is to use hundreds of thousands, possibly millions, of your workers to murder millions of other workers, just boggles my mind. I could at least understand why a racial purist ideology would want to kick the "impure" out of the country in peacetime, but during a war? It just makes no sense. So much for the vaunted German efficiency!
And then to repeat that in the conquered lands like Ukraine, where the civilians were treating you as saviors from the Russians and Communists, is a further bizarre anti-efficiency program I cannot understand. Any regime which could turn all those willing hands back to their Communist Russian oppressors is a bizarre regime indeed.
This movie doesn't really answer the question, but it does make it seem more real, that yes, ideological fanatics could indeed be so unhinged that they would rather reduce their chances of winning than let the "impure" help them win.
Ulsterman Kenneth Branagh...whenever he acts brings gravitas...chillingly so here...the banality of evil...quite a contrast to Dunkirk or his portrayal of fellow Irishman Tim Collins ,kn the eve of the Iraq war..or doing Shakespeare...excellent choice, Johnny best wishes from the wirral peninsula..E
Not to mention he redeemed himself as a German in Valkyrie.
He had good training! 😉
This film emphasis the quote from Stalin in which a single death is a tragedy but a million deaths is a statistic. He wasn't saying a million deaths isn't a tragedy, but for someone in a position of power, it's nothing more than a statistic because to someone in a position of power, they're not the ones getting their hands dirty. It's the men ordered to commit the crimes who end up holding the burden, the nightmares, emotional distress of having to commit said crimes. Meanwhile someone in a fancy villa may enjoy coffee and cake when discussing it.
It's easy to answer why most of those who had to get their hands dirty even if they believed it was a necessary evil, still became drug addicts and alcoholics, sometimes having to drink heavily just to drawn out the screams and crying, pump themselves up into a rage. After a while it gets easier. When reading letters from some of those who escaped justice, they spend much of their time rationalizing and justifying their behavior which is a coping measure, they know what they did was wrong, but admitting what they did was wrong would be admitting they're a monster so they lie even to themselves.
This is actually why in particular cases like this, I think it's more important making those who committed the crimes realize what they did is wrong, than hanging them by a rope. Give them a chance to come out and admit everything. Make penance, otherwise you'd have to hunt them down, possibly even raise children to believe what they did was right, or as you see today, many Nazis view themselves as the victims and flat out deny the crimes were real. If those who committed those crimes through their own words came out and admitted them, willingly, and not with risk of being hung/shot, there would be very little room for denialism. Who knows we could of also learned more about what happened rather than them taking with them to the grave the truth of their own actions.
I'm glad people are paying more attention to this brilliant film, it's such a disturbing and well-made look at the nature of evil. To me, Conspiracy, Schindler's List, and Downfall work well as an unofficial trilogy about the Holocaust.
And Heydrich was nicknamed the ‘Blonde Beast’ for good reason.
An absolute masterpiece. A must see.
I have watched this film on a number of occasions and the equivalence of current governmental mindsets, especially during the Covid period, is chilling. Decisions made, with casual disregard for those callously affected. 'We were only following logistics'...
Probably how the World Economic Forum works....
I watch this movie on DVD every Christmas. Only problem is that Heydrich's aircraft has swastikas on the wings where there should be iron crosses.
Die Wannseekonferenz (1984) is far more chilling, as there is no over-acting.
This one is going on my list. I'll likely go down the rabbithole after watching it, though.
This is exactly what it's like inside a USA presidential campaign. The nominee gets the nomination and top leaders are all called into a meeting (where he is not present) to hear the plan. Objections arise. Some have been planning the path ahead in careful detail with many considerations. The plan as presented will disrupt all that. Others complain differently. They have received the personal assurance from the man himself. But all calls are held, unless the nominee calls, and he won't. Eventually all resistance melts away and the group emerges with a unified plan for victory in the fall.
Ehhh .....false equivalency....what you are describing is Putin's Russian dictatorship
Great video thank you
Branagh looked nothing like Heydrich. And then that British language, it didn't sound like anything! That Fat NSDAP officer who ate everything in this film was actually a skinny man. No, for me this movie really missed the mark.
Conspiracy was well done, with excellent actors playing key roles, but for realism I preferred the 1984 docudrama “Hitler's Final Solution: The Wannsee Conference”. It is in German, so it adds a little more authenticity.
It also uses relatively unknowns in the cast so it’s much easier to suspend disbelief and it feels more like a fly on the wall documentary rather than a recreation film of events.
I imagine this is how it goes in alot of despotic ruled places during history. Stalin didn't kill, maim or torture tens of millions of his own people with his own 2 hands. He delegated. Reading the book Stalin Hangmen, if you weren't disposing of the targeted people fast enough(if your "numbers" weren't high enough at cost) then you joined them.
Also if you had been getting rid of people for awhile(lots of enemies within the bureaucracy as everyone knows everyone) Stalin eventually had your rival get rid of you as he didn't want anyone in power for to long.(other than him)
I am sure Genghis Khan and his brothers and Generals sat in a yurt and discussed the fate of many a city that fell under the sword. People have been acting like monsters since the start of time.
Similar meeting was happened in 2019. I don't believe I see that movie during my lifetime.
A brilliant film that should be required viewing in school history lessons when going through WW2 history.
Not gonna lie, when the one guy introduces himself and says im in charge of the 5 year plan, the other guy goes well im in charge of the thousand year plan then goes to ignoring the first guy. Cracked me up.
One of my favorite movies btw did you see the german version release date 2022
This movie and Judgment at Nuremberg are the best WW2 movies to watch. It shows the true horror and systematic cruelty of the Third Reich.
Not to mention a truly superb performance by Maximillian Schell, who won an Oscar for his role. Great movie.
Actually the decision was already taken. The wannsee conference purpose was to inform the major departments and ministeries so that they couldn't say later that they knew nothing
"still relevant today with bureaucrats and politicians still deciding the fate of people they'll never know or understand..."
This was one of the most disturbing and well done movies I have ever seen.
Did the actors feel disturbed playing their roles so well?